Spitz: Is Justice blind to average Americans?

What once symbolized objectivity in the eyes of the law looks a lot more emblematic of our legal system's increasingly hazy view of right vs. wrong.

A pre-trial conference originally scheduled today, Dec. 18, for Nicolas Dutan Guaman, the man from Ecuador charged with killing Milford resident Matthew Denice, does represent a step in the right direction.

But the fact the case is finally moving forward, and a January date has been set for the conference, doesn't erase the legal shocks of the past two-plus years.

Although Guaman had the presence of mind to do what was necessary to come to this country illegally, hold a job here, drive a car, find a home and raise a family, in the eyes of the court, he was deemed incompetent to stand trial because of his lack of education and basic understanding of the law.

So, in addition to taxpayers' picking up the tab for a court interpreter fluent in the indigenous Quechua language of his native region, we got to pay for his lawyer to help get him up to speed on the ins and outs of our legal process until, in November, a judge ruled Guaman was finally ready to be tried on the second-degree murder charge.

While the judge may have well done what was correct from a legal standpoint, it was tough for people like me to understand how it was right to accord Guaman levels of assistance no average American citizen would get, and to do so on our dime.

Last week, a judge in Texas dealt another blow to average American citizens by ruling a teen shouldn't do time for killing four people while driving drunk because he was a victim of circumstance - that circumstance being his parents' immense wealth.

The poor misguided youth couldn't help himself because his rich parents never set boundaries for him. And besides, the $450,000 a year rehab program the parents could afford was certainly a better way for him to work on his issues than whatever he'd get in lockup.

It's a good bet if the teen had been similarly failed by crackhead parents, his sentence would have been at least 20 years.

I doubt either Guaman or the Texas teen set out with the sole purpose of killing anyone while behind the wheel. I am fully aware humans of every background, myself included, are capable of making very bad decisions, and very bad decisions can have horribly tragic consequences.

Spending time in prison for causing those consequences can't undo the damage. It can only act as a small deterrent for repeating the action, and serve as a warning to others there is a price to be paid for committing crimes.

But as harsh, or lenient, as the punishment is, there should be some expectation it would be similar for any of us, just as we should have an expectation certain defendants won't receive outrageous special considerations from the court.

I'm not naive enough to believe every person charged with a crime gets equal representation, despite state bar standards, despite the public defender system's efforts to level the legal playing field.

I'm just sickened to see the odds stacked against average Americans of average means.

Luckily for Lady Justice, she can use her blindfold to shield her eyes.

Julia Spitz can be reached at 508-626-3968 or jspitz@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter at SpitzJ_MW.